Magical mystery tour
by Katlyn
Summary: In an effort to defeat Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore and the Potters cast an ancient light spell on yet to be born Harry. From what they have read, it means he will be able to summon help in England's darkest hour. HP/Merlin xover.
1. Prologue part one

It was a dark evening in early January when Albus called James and Lily to Hogwarts. The Scottish winter was bleak, and all the current students were in their common rooms and dormitories. James could picture it quite clearly, it had only been three years since he had been head-boy and firmly ensconced in the red and gold tower. He missed it, the constant flow of people, living with just one other person was strange after sharing a living space with over fifty people for seven years. He shook his head and clasped Lily's hand more firmly in his, he wouldn't change his life now for all the world.

Lily squeezed his hand back and looked up at her husband, guessing his thoughts, "Last time we were in the halls after curfew, we had to run for our lives, I'd never seen Filch so determined to catch a student out of bed."

James had the grace to look a little guilty, "Me and Sirius may have had something to do with that. We had to rescue something from his office, but we had to plan it so that he wouldn't see what was missing and connect it immediately with us."

She gave hima quizzical look, "So what did you do?"

"Raided his office every night for a week, taking something different each time. He was furious by the end of it."

Lily frowned and punched his shoulder, "Rotter. I hope you gave the rest of it back."

James grinned, "Of course we did! We are not thieves! We just like to keep possession of our possessions, if you know what I mean." He leered at her, moving his eyebrows up and down in an awful fashion.

"You're not normal, James Potter."

James only laughed.

The rest of the trip was in silence as they each got caught up in memories, they hadn't been back here since graduating, although they had seen the Headmaster quite often through Order meetings. The cold seemed to seep in more as they went deeper into the castle, as the corridors were not heated like the living quarters were.

Before long, they were at the stone gargoyle which lead to Albus' office. The password was given, and they climbed the spiral steps.

"James, Lily, it's so very good to see you," smiled Albus, "thankyou for coming so promptly."

James smiled tightly, Albus looked worn down, and that boded ill. "You said it was important, so we thought we'd better not leave it."

"Indeed, indeed." The Headmaster turned to a sidetable where he had a teapot and several cups sitting ready, "I trust you are both well?" he asked as he drew the tea and passed the cups around.

Lily laughed happily, "More than, Albus, you know that."

"Ah, I am never disappointed by your love of life, my dear." Albus smiled, sadly, it seemed. "And the little one?"

James answered this time, "Poppy checked Lily over last week, and the pregnancy seems to be going completely normally." It was perhaps the first time in his life that James valued normalcy, his whole school career had been an adventure to bring himself as much attention and adulation as he could, now his priorities had changed. "Normal is what we like, apparantly."

"I'm sure that your son or daughter will be anything but normal, dear boy, with your blood, they will not be able to help it."

James grinned proudly at his wife, "They'll be a champion", he laughed.

"Surely you didn't invite us here for just smalltalk though, Albus," said Lily, tilting her head in curiosity, "what was it you wanted to speak to us about?"

The Headmaster sighed, he was loath to dim that happiness, but there was no help for it. "It is about your little one that I wanted to speak. Today I received knowledge from an unusual source."

There was a pause as he took another sip of tea. James clenched his hands around his teacup, and Lily paled.

"I was interviewing our new divinations teacher, and during the interview, she was overtaken by a prophecy." It was all he could do to look at their faces and keep talking. Bit by bit, he repeated the entire prophecy to the Potters. "And so, I believe that the child who is spoken of belongs to either you, or to Alice and Frank.

Lily looked as though she was about to cry, but took control of herself, "Is there anything we can do? You wouldn't tell us this if you didn't have some backup plan, would you? Albus, you must help us!"

James clenched his jaw and put an arm around Lily's shoulder, "We'll find a way, Lils, he said the child had to be marked first, we'll just make sure that never happens."

Lily took solace in his arms as Albus continued talking, "We will of course do our best to make sure that both children are safe, I myself will make it my duty to find the best way to do so. In the meantime, I will require you to cast a Fidelius charm on your home. Choose someone you trust, and who won't give it away. It is possible that someone may have overheard the prophecy and will inform Voldemort. It would not take him long to find out who the likely parents were."

With a last goodbye, the Potters left his office and Hogwarts. Once outside the apparition wards, they went home, wrapped in each others arms for comfort, hoping against hope that the child spoken of was not their own.

Albus looked out of his window before he retired for the night, "We will do our best, but I fear it will still come to pass."


	2. Prologue part two

Chapter one

It was May now, and the Longbottoms and the Potters were in Albus Dumbledore's office once again, chatting quietly amongst themselves as they waited for the Headmaster to return from breakfast and morning assembly. Although James and Lily were a couple of years younger, they were good friends with Frank and Alice, Frank was James' mentor in the Auror training program, and Alice had helped Lily get acquainted with the wizarding world when she first entered Hogwarts and Gryffindor.

Although they were old friends meeting, the mood in the room was sombre. Each couple shared the knowledge that one of their sons, they knew they were both boys now, would be the one marked by Voldemort. Lily was glad they had each other to rely on, and felt guilty for wishing ill on the other family.

Albus returned before long and smiled at the two couples. Before long, he was in his favourite chair and offering lemon drops around the room. Lily grinned and took two, "I think little Harry is going to be a sweet-tooth," she justified, placing a hand on the small bump that had only become noticable in the past month.

James just laughed, "You're excuses are wearing thin, dear, just admit that you're the sweet-tooth in the family."

Lily would have poked her tongue out at him, but had just popped the lemon drop in, so refrained and turned back to the Headmaster. "You said you had good news?"

Albus smiled at them, "I do, dear child, I do. I have been researching in every moment I have been able, and I have come up with several options. I have written them all down, along with the incantations and potions required, and you must decide what to choose. I'm afraid you won't have very long to decide, some of these must be cast before the child is born.

James and Lily went to the school library with Frank and Alice to do their own research on the spells and make their decisions. It being a Hogwarts weekend, and early in the morning, the library was all but deserted, which suited them well enough.

"I'm leaning towards number four,to be honest," mused Alice, "I know it leaves him somewhat weaker as a child, but we can look after him while he's young, we'll keep him safe until he's of age and can fight by himself."

Frank nodded as he looked it over, "It does make sense."

Lily looked at number four, "If it appeared he was practically a squib, it would make him less of a threat, too" she commented, her heart sinking. Neville being less of a threat would make Harry more of one. "James, what do you think of seven?"

James looked down the list and read the entry out, "Enables the subject the power to summon help to defend England from her foes." He looked dubiously at Lily, "I don't know, I kind of like number eight."

Lily looked scandalised, "He wouldn't be human if you chose eight!"

James shrugged, "It was an idea."

"A bad one" Lily snapped. "We're choosing seven."

"But what good will calling for help do? What if no one answers?"

"Albus wouldn't have put it on the list if it wasn't a good idea" replied Lily.

Alice and Frank had already left the library to inform Dumbledore of their decision. Lily sighed and leaned into James' side. "I just have a good feeling about seven, love, it seems right, and it means he'll still get to be a normal little boy,I don't want him to just be a weapon to be deployed. I don't want the fate of the world on his shoulders, although I get the feeling he'll have that anyway if he is the one marked by You-know-who.

James had no answer for that, and just pulled his wife a little bit closer.

The spell was cast within the week and James and Lily returned to Godric's Hollow with their hearts a little higher. The casting had been succesful,although it had been an older form of magic than they were used to, the ritual strange compared to modern techniques. James hadn't felt entirely comfortable afterwards, but Lily seemed perfectly pleased, which eased his worry. The golden light that rose from the runes and disappeared into his wife's womb was unnerving to say the least.

That feeling only grew once Harry was born. The tousle-haired imp seemed a little other worldy, his eyes a brighter green than his mother' was almost as though the boy was someone else's, even though he was the perfect image of a Potter.

When Sirius visited in the middle of the night, James was properly scared for the first time in a year. Harry was fourteen months old and learning to think for himself. Now and again, James would find him in strange places, laughing and giggling at confusing his Daddy so much. He also had a knack for finding his way into the toy cupboard. James blamed the inconsistencies on his own memory, the stress of the situation was taking it's toll, and Harry was far too young to be showing accidental magic yet.

Sirius apparated into the home, he was the only one outside of the family who was able to do so, due to his position as secret keeper. James had been sitting doing some paperwork at the kitchen table, Lily and Harry were already asleep. He jumped a little at the 'pop', but smiled when he saw his brother in all but blood. The smile faded as he took in Sirius' worried face, "What's wrong Pads?"

Sirius sat down opposite James, "You have to get a new secret keeper." His eyes were deadly serious as he continued, "I was approached today by someone at the ministry, they wanted to buy me a drink and talk about Hogwarts and find out what I'd been up to, and 'hey, hadn't I been friends with that Potter kid as well?'" He shook his head, "It was a lame attempt, I'll admit, but I've never seen that person before in my life, and I swear they were up to no good. You need to find someone else, I'm too obvious,I mean, I'll never talk, but what if they use imperius? I can't defend against that, and I'd give you away, I wouldn't be able to help it." He'd gotten up and started pacing as he talked.

James stood and grabbed his shoulders, "Hey, hey! Stop! Just... slow down, alright?" He rubbed his face with a hand, "Merlin, I didn't want this to happen.I don't want to drag you into danger as well, it's bad enough the three of us... What do you suggest? If it's like you said, and they suspect you, then we'll have to change, but who can we trust?"

Sirius collapsed back into a chair. "I don't know anymore, Prongs. You know I'd never give you away on purpose, right?" He looked pleadingly at his best friend.

"Idiot, of course I know that," said James, punching his shoulder. "What about Moony?"

Sirius looked doubtful. "They say You know who's trying to recruit werewolves, promising them a whole lot more than the ministry is."

"Yeah, but it's Remus, he wouldn't do anything like that."

"I just don't know anymore, look at Reggie, I didn't think he'd become a death eater either."

"Peter then. No-one'd suspect Peter."

Sirius paused, "You know that's a good point, he's totally inconspicuous, and he could get away in an instant as Wormtail if one of them tried to corner him. He's good at getting out of tight spots."

James nodded, "Right, I'll contact him tomorrow then. Now get out of here." He shoved Sirius' shoulder and gave him a tight smile. "Some of us are tired and want a good night's sleep."

Sirius grinned back, relieved for the moment. "Yes sir, Prongs sir! Getting out of here!"

With a salute, he was gone, and James went to look in on the little boy who wasn't quite his, but was still the most important kid in his life.

In less than a month, despite their best efforts, James and Lily were dead, Sirius was in Azkaban, and Harry was alone.

Thanks for reading. It's all been prologue so far, but the story will get started next chapter.


	3. The beginning

Harry's childhood with the Dursley's was not typical. From the time he arrived to his eighth birthday, he was treated as nothing more than a nuisance, something the Dursley's had to put up with. Dudley would play Harry Hunting with Piers and Dennis, and his Aunt and Uncle did nothing to stop it. It was during one of these 'games' that Harry realised he really _was_ different. The school yard had been void of students when Harry barrelled round the corner and hid behind the bins.

It didn't take long for Dudley and his friends to find him and they were just pushing the bins out of the way when Harry wished as hard as he could that he was out of reach. A pulse seemed to fill his head, and he opened his eyes to find himself on the roof of the grade one's classroom. He gasped and stuck his arms out to steady himself as he lost his footing on the guttering. Below, Dudley scowled in confusion, "I'm going to tell Dad on you! You're not allowed on the rooves!"

Harry just laughed, "Yeah, yeah!", and ran over the rooftops to the other side of the building where he could climb down onto a bench below.

Over the next few months, more events occurred, his grade three teacher's hair changed colour, Dudley's toys always managed to get lost, even when he was guarding them quite staunchly. He would be sitting watching the afternoon programmes on telly, and whatever toy he was carrying at the time would always lodge firmly behind the cushions of the couch, and no matter how tightly Dudley would hold on, as soon as he was distracted, (which was fairly frequently), it would vanish between the cushions. Harry would watch secretly from the kitchen, laughing as he pushed it a little further with his magic.

His aunt caught him a few times, and kept an eye out for her young nephew, making sure he was distracted with chores whenever he appeared to be troublesome.

It was nearing his ninth birthday when the situation reached a turning point. It was the summer break and Petunia was doing her weekly clean, making everything spotless. Her thoughts ran onto the topic of her nephew. She didn't know a lot about the wizarding world, but she had grown up with a magical sibling and from what she remembered, Lily had been nowhere near as precocious as Harry seemed. The only signs she had shown of becoming a witch, and Petunia shuddered even to think the term, had been a few accidents when she was quite little, and then nothing until she had turned eleven.

The truth of the matter was that she was scared of him. Petunia gathered up the box of detergents, bleach and cloths, and made her way to the top of the stairs. He wasn't normal; he was freakier than any of the freaks. She heard the front door open, and saw the object of her thoughts enter the house after mowing the front lawn.

In the next moment, several things happened at once. Dudley made an appearance of his own, slamming open the door of his bedroom and yelling "MUM" at the top of his voice. Petunia, who hadn't even known he was in the house -surely she would have heard him come in- jumped in a half turn to the sound of his voice, catching her foot on the edge of a step. In what seemed like an instant, she was falling through the air, and Dudley looked on, frozen in fear as his Mummy went down.

Had anyone been watching Harry that instant, they would have seen his eyes turn gold for a moment as he slowed down time. He thought quickly and used his magic to pull the couch from the living room to the bottom of the staircase. Time sped up again, and Petunia landed heavily on the couch, all the air pushed out of her, but otherwise completely fine.

"Oh my goodness," was all she could say at first, "Oh my goodness..." Her breath returning, she turned to Harry, "Did you do that?" She asked insistently, "How did you do that? Did you put that couch there?"

Harry shrunk back from her intensity, unsure, "Er, I didn't mean to, I just, you were falling... I didn't want you to hurt yourself."

Petunia shoved the couch out of the way and knelt in front of Harry, "Thank you, Harry."

Coming out of shock, Dudley ran down the stairs, sounding like a little elephant, "Mum! Mum! Mummy!"

Petunia turned immediately to her baby and clasped him in a hug, "It's alright, darling, Mummy's fine, she just had a little fall."

Harry stared at the two, eyes darkening, as they babbled to each other about how everything was all right.

That evening, Petunia went up to the attic, where she kept her dead sister's belongings. Rifling through the trunks, she finally found what she was looking for, an address. She carefully closed all the boxes, and shut the attic door, leaving it looking as though it had never been disturbed. Vernon sat in the lounge, laughing at his programme, and Petunia sat in the kitchen with a cup of tea, writing a letter to someone who she hoped would be able to help.

I'm sorry this took so long. I'm still not 100% happy with this chapter, but I figure it's better to put it out there and continue with the story rather than fussing over it any more.


	4. A visit

Severus Snape was grading papers. That is to say, he had planned on grading papers, and was currently avoiding the task by brewing a simple potion. A general healing draught was simple enough that he could brew with minimum concentration, leaving him free to ponder other things. The first thought on his mind tonight was a letter he had received, seemingly from the past; it had been years since he had spared a thought for Petunia Dursley, née Evans.

She had written of her nephew, and Severus had sneered even to read his name, Harry James Potter. He picked up the letter once again as he stirred in the figwort, twice clockwise and thrice anti.

_Severus Snape_, (he was glad she had not bothered with a 'dear').

_I know we never got on when we knew each other, but I'm writing to you concerning my sister's child, Harry. You were friends with Lily when you were younger and whenever we spoke about the past, she said she could always trust you. I'll admit that Lily and I were not close friends at the end, so I hope this is still the case._

_Harry is not normal. As a child, Lily showed some signs of magic, but Harry is different. He can move things around just by thinking of it. Once he even managed to magic himself onto the rooves of his school. I'm worried about him. I don't want that Headmaster sticking his nose in, because he always causes trouble, but I need to know if Harry is normal, and you were the only person I could think of to ask. Please help us._

_Regards,_

_Petunia Dursley._

The letter had been sent to his childhood home of Spinner's End by Royal Post, the only address Petunia could find, so it was fortunate that Severus' letterbox was charmed to transport letters directly to his quarters in Hogwarts.

He placed the letter back down on the bench, a sizable distance from the potion he was working on, and turned back to stirring. What to do? Surely the Aunt was over-reacting; she was just being hyper sensitive about her beloved nephew. He sneered, hating the idea of paying the slightest bit of attention to the child. A new thought occurred to the Potions Master, perhaps it would be worth it to rub it into the brat and his muggle relatives that he would never be anything but ordinary.

And with that, he decided that he would pay a visit to number four Privet Drive.

Little more than two weeks later, Severus found himself with enough free time to visit the house in Surrey. Wearing his customary uniform except for the overcoat, he passed as only mildly eccentric to the muggles around him. With a sneer of contempt for the picture perfect, cardboard cut-out houses around him, he rang the bell of number four. Within moments, the door was opened by a youth, and Severus swallowed a gasp of surprise. He had expected Potter to be pampered, yes, but to this extent? This was practically child abuse.

"Yeah?" slurred the child, lacking all common manners.

Severus drew himself up, "Is Mrs Dursley home?"

The boy shrugged, "Dunno" he said before turning around, "Muuum," he yelled into the house, "Someone for you", and he walked off back into what was presumably the living room, leaving Severus standing on the doorstep, eyebrow raised, and thanking everything he knew that the boy was not in fact Potter, but his cousin. Surely Potter could not be worse than that abomination.

Within moments, Petunia Dursley appeared, frazzled and wiping her hands on the apron she'd tied around herself to make sure she stayed neat while cleaning. She paused, mouth half open when she recognised the man on her doorstep. "Severus Snape," she said, with what almost looked like relief, "Please come in, thank you for coming." She led the way through the hall into the kitchen where she gestured for him to sit at the table. "Tea or coffee?"

"Neither thank you." Severus drawled, "I would prefer to get to the point of this visit, I do not have a lot of time to waste."

Petunia looked nervous, "O...of course," she stuttered, finding her own seat. "It's about Harry, but you knew that. He's not normal." She burst out. "He does freaky things all the time, not just now and again. Lily only ever did it once or twice, and it's not because he knows about magic, we've not told him anything, yet he continues to do... it." She wasn't looking at Severus, which was just as well, because his face grew more forbidding as she kept on. "I can't complain, I know, because he saved me from falling just the other week, but it's unnerving to have that in the house. You have to understand, we only wanted a normal life."

When she turned her eyes back to the man opposite, she grew pale and closed her mouth sharply.

"You mean to say that you have told him nothing about his heritage?"

"Well, we, it's not that simple. If we told him, he'd think of nothing else, and he'd think he was better than our Dudders, and we don't want that sort of thing going on."

"So what do you tell him when he does these 'freaky' things?" The sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

Petunia frowned, "We don't tell him anything, just to stop it and go to his room."

"Would you mind if I spoke to the boy?" His curiosity was growing, and he wanted to see the child for himself, "Perhaps I will be able to solve this little problem of yours."

Petunia sighed, "If you must." She walked to the backdoor and rapped on the window sharply. For the first time since he entered the room, Severus' attention was drawn to the garden where he saw a young boy kneeling before one of the flower beds. The rapping caught his attention, and he headed towards the kitchen with a bounce in his step.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia?" the boy asked, smiling politely at her and her guest.

"Boy, this man is Severus Snape, be on your best behaviour." She glared at him before turning around, "I have washing to do, so if you both will excuse me." And without waiting for a reply, she left the kitchen.

Harry turned smiled, "Hi, I'm Harry." He held out a hand to shake, but realised half-way that his hands were covered in soil, "Er, nice to meet you."

Snape raised an eyebrow; this boy was not what he had expected. "Your aunt asked me to come here today, saying that you have been performing feats of magic that no grown wizard could manage without a wand. I wish to know whether this is true."

Harry immediately went on his guard, "I don't know what you're talking about. Magic isn't real, it's just circumstance, you know." The young boy looked like a deer, eyes wide and stance defensive, his mouth in a smile as if to convince the audience that this was all a big joke.

"You have no need to pretend with me, Mister Potter. I am a wizard myself, as were your father and mother. It is completely normal for an underage wizard to show signs of accidental magic before they have studied the art of magic." He stood and walked to the window, turning from the boy, and so missed the look of relief that appeared on his face, "Perhaps you think you are" and he almost spat the word, "special, but I am here to tell you that you are not. Normality is all you can aspire to."

Harry grinned, "That's fantastic. You mean there're heaps of other people who can do this too? Great."

Severus turned back around in shock at the satisfaction he could hear in the boy's voice, but stopped himself from speaking for a moment to hide his surprise.

"I mean, Dudley always calls me a freak, and I know Aunt and Uncle don't like what I do. I always thought it was just me, and that I'd have to hide forever. This is awesome. When can I meet other magic people? Can everyone do what I can?" He went on rambling for a few more minutes.

Snape raised a hand to his eyes, which he'd closed for a brief moment. "Would you shut up? I will answer your questions if you ask them in a reasonable manner once I have ascertained everything I came here to know." He sat back down at the table. "Your aunt told me that you are able to do more than accidental magic. How far does this extend?"

Little Harry looked abashed at being scolded, but he was still eager to know more. "I um, I can move things around just by um, concentrating on them, then they do what I want. Sometimes everything slows down, although nobody notices except me. Once I made myself move places, although I only did it 'cause I was running away, and I can change colours of things, when I want to."

Severus' forehead wrinkled, this was sounding less like accidental magic, as loath as he was to admit it. "Would you be able to show me something you can do, or do you need to be in a stressful situation to be able to do it?"

Harry leaped at the opportunity, "Oh, I can do it now if you want me to, should I move the chairs around?" At the nod from Severus, he proceeded to concentrate on the chairs. Severus found his eyes watching the boy as he worked, and he saw the moment when his eyes turned gold. With a start, he saw the chairs move and dance over the floor, propelled by nothing more than this child's imagination.

"How are you doing that? Are you reciting the spell in your mind?" he demanded.

"No," Harry shrugged, "I've always been able to do it, since before I could speak. Doesn't everybody do it like that?" the skinny eight year old looked nervous again.

Severus didn't answer for a moment, and just watched the boy contemplatively, "Not until they're much older", he finally replied. "It is unusual for someone as young as you to have so much control." He stood suddenly, "I must leave, but I will be back when I have learnt more. Do not practice magic. It is vital that you remain undetected."

His black eyes were scary, Harry thought to himself. "Yes sir, would you like to speak to Aunt Petunia again?"

Severus looked down on the child. "I do not believe that is necessary, you can inform her that I will return."

And with that, the Potions Master let himself out of the house, leaving Harry alone in the kitchen, unsure whether to be happy or sad at all he had found out. Magic was real, but he wasn't normal compared to magic either.

* * *

I figure this is as good a time as any to remind people that this is a HP/Merlin crossover. I am using the recent BBC tv show rather than any other adaptation. Please excuse any OC-ness in Harry, he's not technically Harry anymore, which I will come to later on in the story.

Thankyou for all the people who added me to alerts or to favourites lists, I appreciate it. I appreciate the reviews as well, all two of them. I would love to hear more about what you think, and what you want to see, I have a few different plots in mind, and it helps when I come to writing if I have an idea of what the readers like. If you don't fancy reviewing, never mind, I'm writing this because I like the idea and I want to see it evolve, not because I am desperate for feedback. (I still love feedback).


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